In general, a cabinet of a refrigerator consists of an inner case and an outer case and a heat insulation layer is formed in a space between the inner case and the outer case. The heat insulation layer is formed by combining the inner case with the outer case and then injecting urethane foam or the like from an inlet of the outer case to foam and harden the same therein. In addition, a wire harness with a bundle of various wires is housed in the space between the inner case and outer case of the refrigerator. The wire harness is embedded in a foam insulation material in a process of forming the heat insulation layer.
In recent years, the refrigerator shows a technical tendency that a thickness of the foam insulation material becomes increasingly thinner by improvement in internal volume ratio of the refrigerator, utilization of a VIP (Vacuum Insulation Panel), etc. In addition, the number of wires tends to increase due to increase in the number of various sensors and devices in the refrigerator. For this reason, nowadays there is also a refrigerator configured such that a thickness of a foam insulation material is nearly equal to a diameter of a bundle of wires in a wire harness. Accordingly, the thickness of the foam insulation material may not be sufficiently secured at a portion at which the wire harness is present, and foaming defects, such as a void caused by inhibition of a flow channel of urethane foam, are generated. As a result, serious problems such as condensation are brought about by deterioration of heat insulation properties of the foam insulation material.
As countermeasures to the above problems, an example of using a plate-like harness assembly in which a variety of wires are interposed and adhered by sheet materials is conventionally disclosed (for instance, see Patent Document 1). In addition, an example in which grooves are provided on corner portions of an inner case and a variety of wires are housed in the grooves is disclosed (for instance, see Patent Document 2). In addition, an example in which a flat cable configured in a band shape by bonding and flattening a variety of wires is used as a wire harness is disclosed, although it is not intended to improve heat insulation efficiency of a refrigerator (for instance, see Patent Document 3).